Tyler Ennis drained a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift undefeated and top-ranked Syracuse to a dramatic 58-56 victory at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, extending its streak to 24 consecutive wins to open the season.

“It was a great win,” Orange coach Jim Boeheim told ESPN’s Doris Burke with a bit of an incredulous look on his face at the very end of his on-court postgame interview.

Syracuse had avoided a loss through those first 23 games, but there were a handful of close calls and comebacks along the way. One of those close games happened the last time the Orange faced their old Big East rival this season; that one, Syracuse won by five points at home thanks to outstanding play by Ennis, the outstanding freshman point guard, down the stretch. Who knew that was just the warm-up for Ennis on Wednesday night?

This would have been an enormous victory for a Pittsburgh team that played a mediocre nonconference schedule and still does not own a victory over a no-doubt at-large caliber opponent. This one, given the dramatic nature, has to hurt more than the others.

What looked to be one of the biggest plays of the game happened at the two-minute mark. Pittsburgh, holding onto a four-point lead, milked the shot clock all the way down to the final seconds. The Panthers didn’t get a good shot — a long, off-line 3-point attempt from Lamar Patterson — but big man Talib Zanna was there for the tip-in to give Pitt a six-point advantage.

That was quickly very important, because Syracuse rallied to retake the lead with a pair of free throws by Ennis. But on the ensuing possession, Zanna — a 61.1 percent free-throw shooter this year — knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to put Pitt back up by one with 4.4 seconds left.